


Seventeen Again

by shinyskarmorys



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Amusement Parks, Established Relationship, F/M, Haunted Houses, Juliet is Teacher of the Year, Old Married Couple Energy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, these two radiate so much of it SO MUCH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27780574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinyskarmorys/pseuds/shinyskarmorys
Summary: Juliet and Leon decide to go on an impromptu date to the amusement park - and end up on a little trip down memory lane.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Seventeen Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [carefreejules](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carefreejules/gifts).



> Thank you so much Jules for letting me write these adorable dorks in love! Juliet is her lovely OC, and for more of her and her story you should read her excellent fic The Ties That Bind, or follow her work at [@PigeonSenpai](https://twitter.com/PigeonSenpai) on Twitter!

Juliet was not expecting her first spook of the day to be a teenager peering over her table, but it was partly her own fault for getting so engrossed in her marking and not noticing them lingering there.

“Ahhh!” She jumped, dropping her red pen and quickly attempting to hide the test sheets with some more nondescript papers. “Abigail! How long have you been standing there?!”

“I didn’t see my paper if that’s what you’re worried about,” the girl giggled, holding up her hands. “Sorry to interrupt you, Teach, but I was kinda hoping if you would do me a favour.”

Juliet raised an eyebrow. “Yes…?”

“Is it okay if I gave you these?” She barely had time to blink as Abigail thrust two long strips of paper in her face. “They’re tickets to the travelling amusement park that’s in Wyndon this week, y’know, the one with the Impidimp flyers? I was kinda hoping to ask this guy I liked if he could go with me but then I found out he’s been dating someone else behind my back so…”

The Hoennian woman couldn’t help quirking her lip into a slight smile at the little tale. Ah, young love. So blissful and yet so fleeting all at once. One thing she loved about her students but would never admit to them was how they reminded her of her youthful side… taking her back to when she and Leon had still been dancing circles around each other for years. And how well that had turned out…

“So I’m guessing you no longer have any use for them. Why come to me then? Why not simply give them to one of your friends?”

“They’ve all got dates already. And honestly, this is the kind of park you go on a _date_ with, y’know? The kind where you eat cotton candy on the Ferris wheel and then kiss, or something.”

“I don’t think those things were ever meant to be mixed…”

“Probably not. Anyway, since I couldn’t think of anybody else, I figured you might as well have them. You could go with Mister Leon. It’ll be fun.”

“Well, I’m… certainly glad you thought of us. That’s very nice of you, Abigail, thank you,” Juliet chuckled, trying to hide the slight blush in her cheeks. “I suppose I’ll ask him. It would be a nice day off.”

“If you’re done, you might as well ask him now. Because I saw him in the waiting area earlier. That’s how I got the idea,” Abigail giggled, collecting her bag and scuttling off. “Thanks, Teach! You guys have fun!”

Juliet let the blush spread now she was left to her thoughts, mainly because her first one was— _How long had he been sitting out there??_ Had the damn goofball of a man been waiting there for her till she’d wrapped up for the day? In fairness, it wasn’t even the first time he’d done that; but those little things, the fact he’d still come down all the way from the Tower to wait for her every time, ask about her day and walk her home… it still made her heart flutter like she was as old as one of her students.

Suddenly the tickets were looking like a very good idea. She locked up her desk and put the rest of the papers into her bag to finish marking at home; hopefully Abigail had done well enough so she could leave a little thank-you note along with her grade.

She didn’t have any more time to contemplate the question, because the moment she reached the doorway she was swept up in a Leon-shaped whirlwind. “Finally,” he grinned, wrapping an arm around her and gently pecking her on the lips. “I’ve been waiting for ages!”

“Lee!” she squeaked, turning red and ducking out of sight of the corridor so she could return the kiss. “Someone will see!”

“It’s not like this is the first time I’ve done this at work. Besides,” he stuck out his lower lip in a mock pout, “I _missed you_ , J. I had so many people come in and out today talking my ear off, and I was _so unbelievably bored._ I couldn’t even pick up my phone to text you.”

“In that case, I might just have the solution to all your problems—”

“Aside from seeing your face?”

“Lee, please,” Juliet giggled, shaking her head. There was no stopping how cheesy he could be, but she’d never try and stop him. “You know the travelling theme park that’s in town? A student of mine gave me two tickets as a gift.”

“They gave them to you—so we could go?” Leon smiled. “That’s so sweet of them. But I’m not surprised your students love you that much. You always know just the right things to say.”

“Why don’t you save the rest of the compliments for maybe dinner, mister,” she laughed, feeling she might burst if he dropped yet another one. “We’ve got the rest of the day off, and quite a bit of time. Why don’t we head over right away? I’m sure your day could use the mood boost.”

“Like I said, you always know the right things to say, honey,” he winked, kissing her cheek and holding out his hand. “I’m already feeling much better, but you know what? A little extra wouldn’t hurt.”

* * *

It was only when they reached the gates that a mortifying thought occurred to Juliet. “Oh, goodness, what if I run into some of the kids here?”

“Easy peasy,” Leon shrugged, handing the tickets to the collector, who looked a little dumbstruck that the former Champion had just turned down her offer to let him and his date in for free. “I’ll just hand out some autographs and shoo them away.”

“You can’t possibly think that would work all the time!”

“Hey, if it works for Raihan, it works for me, too. Besides,” he gestured around them, stopping beside a guy who was handing out balloons, “Look at the number of couples here. If any of your students are here, they’re probably on a date, and they’re gonna be far more horrified at the thought of running into their _teacher_ on a _date_.”

“Oh, goodness, you’re right, I didn’t think about that. Well, that certainly puts the ball in my court,” Juliet laughed, blinking as Leon handed a balloon to her. “Huh?”

“They’re handing these out to everyone. Look! It’s a star, perfect for you,” he grinned, gazing up at the bright yellow inflated star that bobbed merrily above her head—then at the regular spherical blue balloon in his hand. “And I guess that makes mine the moon.”

“You’re right, it’s perfect,” she laughed, shaking her head and giving him a quick squeeze. This had been an excellent idea on her part—it had seemed to turn his adorableness levels up ten times now the worries of the day had been forgotten. “What’s gotten into you? You’re a bit like a ten-year-old in a candy store.”

“I haven’t been ten in an awful long time, I’ve forgotten what that’s like,” Leon chuckled—then turned to her with shining eyes. “Speaking of candy, we should absolutely get some.”

Juliet definitely couldn’t stop him there—not once he’d appealed to her sweet tooth. She did have to stop him from nearly buying the whole stand; instead, he settled for a bag of chocolates, twizzlers, and the traditional cotton candy. The latter served to provide the second spook of her day—one that Leon had predicted, and arguably more spooky for the others involved.

She managed to get a bit of the frothy pink spun sugar on her cheek, and Leon, the cheesy sap that he was, seized the opportunity to kiss it off her face. She wasn’t too concerned about the public display of affection given the amount of public they were in—then startled when she heard some vaguely familiar voices squeak in front of her.

“M-Miss Juliet?”

“Teach! M-Mister Leon!”

The two turned to face two teenage boys that Juliet recognised were part of her class—clutching at their ice cream cones and extremely red in the face. They’d clearly witnessed the kiss before realising who it was, and they were clearly on a date, but for the first time—given how their hands brushed gingerly against each other. Which made it all the more embarrassing to be caught out by the adults.

Juliet decided to take the opportunity to be a little cheeky. “Hello, Hamish, hello, Thomas,” she greeted them warmly, as if she was meeting them just outside class. “Fancy seeing you here! You boys enjoying your date?”

“Er—um—yes, Teach,” Hamish stammered, looking about ready for the earth to swallow him. The Yamper at his ankles yipped happily, as if revelling in his Trainer’s discomfort. “It’s, um, it’s a very nice day out—”

“Yeah, it’s great fun!” Thomas blurted, a nervous grin on his face. “You guys enjoying yours?”

Hamish stared at his date as if he’d just committed blasphemy, but Leon simply laughed and genially clapped the teenager on the back. “Of course! It’s always nice to take some time off from our busy schedules. And given all the good work your Teach does for you lot, she certainly deserves it.”

“Thank you, honey,” Juliet chuckled, slipping her arm into her husband’s. Normally, she’d have been quite embarrassed at herself, but there was some part of her that was having fun laying it on thick in front of the kids—it must’ve been Leon’s improved enthusiasm rubbing off on her. Or maybe, in some way, she saw a little bit of themselves in the young couple, something the vibe of the park was bringing out again. “Well, we’re not going to keep you two any longer. You should go enjoy yourselves, have a good time. This isn’t school after all.”

“Yeah, absolutely! You guys have fun too!” Thomas’ voice was getting more and more high pitched, still staring at Leon like he couldn’t believe he was real. “See you tomorrow, Teach!”

“Um, yeah, see you tomorrow. Bye, Miss Juliet, bye, Mister Leon, it was nice meeting you,” Hamish coughed, grabbing his date’s arm and quickly turning tail, his Yamper still in the highest of spirits behind him. “Come on, Yammy. Oh boy.”

Juliet watched their retreating backs for a little while, nibbling on a little more of the cotton candy, before breaking into a fit of giggles.

“Oh boy is right,” Leon snorted, gently patting her on the back. “That was quite the performance. I think we scared those poor boys worse than any ride here would.”

“I have to admit, I enjoyed that,” she laughed, shaking her head and giving him a squeeze. “But I would hope I don’t have to do it multiple times today.”

“In that case, I suggest keeping ourselves busy. The more we stand still, the more likely we are to run into someone,” he mused, scanning the periphery as if looking for an idea—then he found one. A most ironic one, causing him to burst out laughing again. “Oh, now we _have_ to do that one.”

“What are you talking about?” Juliet turned to where he was looking—at a giant colourful standee with an impressive mural of a Charizard holding balloons, adorning the entrance to a towering rollercoaster ride that curved every which way. “Oh my Arceus. No way. Did they really make that the tagline?”

“No, you are reading it right,” Leon was still laughing. “‘Walk This Way For A Champion Time’. If I’d read it without you seeing it, you wouldn’t have believed me.”

“Is that even allowed?”

“Honestly, I don’t care, I’m flattered. But you do know what this means, don’t you?” He winked, taking her arm gently and leading her forward. “I need to test it out and verify for myself if it is, indeed, a champion time.”

“You are ridiculous,” Juliet snickered, shaking her head and following his lead, finishing the last of her cotton candy. “But I’m tempted too. Come on then, Champ.”

The ride operator certainly hadn’t expected the man who had popularised the phrase on his standee himself to show up, given the bewildered expression on his face as he took them in from head to toe. Perhaps he’d oversold his premise a bit. Nevertheless, he let them have the front-most buggy for the rollercoaster—all of which were built for two—as a VIP honour. Juliet was both nervous and excited as she clambered into the somewhat cramped seat.

“Ooh—oh my,” she gulped, staring at the rails ahead of her, the curve of which seemed to dip and vanish into thin air. “Y-you think we could ask him to relocate to maybe the back seat?”

“And get someone’s hair in our faces instead of the cool breeze? No way,” Leon chuckled, taking the moment to wrap an arm securely around her waist, and hold it there. It was absolutely improper protocol—his other hand was only just about holding the railing in front of them—but she hardly felt like complaining, not when his touch was so gentle and secure at the same time; the right balance between protective and chivalrous. It was so like him… one of the many reasons she loved him. But she could hardly find the time to get sentimental, as they felt a tug behind them and the ride took off with a sudden whoosh.

It started off smoothly, right up to the first bend she’d seen—and then immediately picked up pace, wheeling down and up and down again in a curve like an infinity loop. Their positioning right in front meant they got the full effect of the wind in their faces, whistling sharply in the air drowning out the screaming of the people behind them. Juliet was almost ready to join the screaming on the second loop—then noticed Leon next to her. He was hollering, quite heartily, and when the bend came round shifted his entire body weight on instinct so Juliet was pressed closer against his side. She couldn’t help squealing and grabbing the railing.

“Don’t worry, I got you!” Leon called out over the wind, grinning and keeping his arm securely around her waist. He moved his other arm over the railing so his palm was over hers, closing his fingers around hers while they clutched the bar. “This is just like flying on Charizard!”

“Really?” Juliet yelled back, the smile creeping back into her face over the terror, with a bit of blush. It was hard not to feel like a giddy teenager when the man she loved the most was acting like one himself around her.

“Maybe a lot less loop-de-loop, but absolutely!” he chuckled, giving her an involuntary squeeze as the coaster swung round for its final loop. “Watch out, here it comes again!”

Juliet was grinning madly now, leaning as far as she could into Leon’s large frame as they threw their heads back and screamed into the wind together. They hadn’t even planned the synchronisation—it just caught them by complete impulse, and they were still laughing about it once they’d gotten off, her resting her head against his shoulder to get her balance back.

“Well?” She wiped a tear from her eye, almost wheezing. “Did you have a champion time?”

“I sure did. But I have a feeling it wasn’t because of the ride,” he winked, gently rubbing her back while he held up one of her arms for support. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m spectacular, actually,” she smiled, quickly pressing a kiss to his cheek—then holding a hand to her stomach. “Although, I’m suddenly awfully hungry.”

“Good. I was hoping we’d have an excuse to get giant milkshakes.”

The adjacent cafe featured its own bit of fun: the eight specialty thick shakes were all named after the Galar Gym Leaders, with a flavour theme based on their namesake. They seemed far too large and overwhelmingly sweet for just one person, though, so they had to come to a decision on whose shake to split.

“My natural instinct is to order the Raihan,” Leon snickered. “But the chocolate and cherries seems a little rich for me. Not surprising given his brand.”

“Well, you can never go wrong with cookies and cream,” Juliet mused. “So maybe we should go with the Melony.”

“You’re right, although…” His eyes trailed further along the menu, and he raised an eyebrow. “How do you feel about being a little adventurous?”

In the end, Leon’s suggestion meant they settled on the Kabu, which was a citrus-y, fruity specialty that featured a little hint of spice that kicked in right at the end. It tickled Juliet’s Hoenn-born palate perfectly, but Leon wound up sipping on his straw too fast and letting it go right to his nose.

“Oh dear.” Juliet couldn’t help laughing softly at her husband’s expense, but reached up to pat his back till he was done coughing, then gently planted a kiss on his lips. “Did that help?”

“Yes, that—helped very much,” Leon blinked, blushing a little then looking down at the glass. “Aw. It’s all done. I was hoping I could try snagging another of those.”

“Don’t be cheeky. We might attract another one of my students.” She was about to reach up to wipe a bit of froth off his face, when a shadowy structure behind his shoulder caught her eye. At first, she assumed its appearance was from the approaching sunset, but on closer inspection she could tell it looked like that on purpose.

Leon tilted his head, amused. “What? Do I still get my kiss?”

“Maybe,” she winked, gesturing in the direction she’d been looking. “That is—if you don’t mind me being adventurous this time.”

He followed her lead this time, curious as to what she meant—then his eyes widened as they approached the wonky-shaped makeshift building, crafted out of tents and mismatched planks of wood and adorned in what looked like actual Ariados webs. “Since when did you like haunted houses?”

“Honestly, the only thing close to a haunted house I’ve been to is Allister’s Gym,” Juliet grinned sheepishly, stopping at the counter where a collector dressed to resemble a hag gave her two bottle-cap tokens. “But that’s more like a haunted obstacle course. The real thing should be a lot more fun. Besides,” she cast a smile at her husband, “I’m sure it’ll be quite alright if we held hands the entire time.”

“Oh, you don’t need to tell me twice.” Leon gratefully accepted the offer, gallantly taking her hand and leading her forward through the door—less a door and more a patchy black curtain, looking as if it was made of Woobat wings. Hopefully it wasn’t.

It was completely pitch black inside, making her clutch onto Leon’s hand more; the only sign there was a pathway of any sort was the little light provided by Litwicks that happily floated about, their flames flickering in a manner that said _follow me._ And they had no other choice but to do so.

“Okay, this is definitely nothing like Allister’s Gym,” Juliet muttered, peering in several directions at once, looking for anything amidst the cracked floorboards and makeshift panel walls that could be hiding a jumpscare. “It doesn’t look like there are any giant—”

Suddenly, a suspicious-sounding click went off beneath Leon’s foot, and they stopped.

Which was a bad idea, because the very next moment something shot out at them from the far wall—a large shadow with long, enveloping fingers.

“H-hands!” Juliet shrieked, running backwards and tripping over a loose floorboard—then noticing the switch embedded in it.

“Oh, Arceus—don’t tell me there’s more traps of the sort?!” she shuddered, slowly picking herself back up and dusting herself off. “That giant hand must’ve been a Cofagrigus, right, Lee?”

No response came, and when she looked around, there was no Leon standing anywhere beside her. That could only mean they had gotten separated by the Cofagrigus—and Leon was probably lost somewhere.

The thought brought an even bigger chill down her spine than the jumpscare had. Knowing Leon’s propensity for getting lost on a straight road, there was no way he was making it out of an entire haunted house without falling down a trap or getting shut in a cupboard. Which meant—it was up to Juliet to find him.

“Okay, I can do this. It’s just like the Wild Area, right? Except… a lot darker. And indoors.” She muttered to herself as she followed the Litwick-lit path again, hoping Leon had done the sensible thing and followed it in the midst of her confusion. Unless he’d been… _grabbed_ by something…

_“Are you lost, little missy?”_

The voice came like a hissing whisper from somewhere above her. She jerked her head upwards to see where it was coming from—and the Litwick chose that moment to flee into the shadows.

“No—wait! Come back!” She squinted, trying to look for some source of light—there was a rather strange one up ahead, a bit like it was dancing and flickering on the wall. Well, something was better than nothing. She followed it down the hallway—and let out a sound between a shudder and a groan.

She’d wound up in a haunted house staple—a hall of mirrors.

The reflections of the mirrors onto each other were the lights she’d been seeing, and it was the only source of light in the room—as if that wasn’t disconcerting enough, so were the ten Juliets of various sizes and distortions staring back at her.

“I’m not looking. I’m not looking. I’m not looking,” she muttered to herself, trying to keep her line of sight firmly in front—but then caught herself at the last mirror, a slightly more concave one. She squinted at the weirdly inverted reflection.

“Is that really what my hair looks like from the back…?”

As if in answer to her question, something crept up her shoulder and poked at it.

“AIIIIIYYEEEEEEEEEEE!!”

She tried to break into a run like the last time but found herself unable to move, almost rooted in place; heart pounding wildly, she slowly turned around to face her newest assailant—and stared back at a Phantump, holding out one of its twiggy hands.

_“Come! Play with me!”_

Now, Juliet vaguely knew something of Phantump’s Pokedex entry, which made the disembodied voice—wherever it was from—all the more creepy. But that made her feel a bit bad for the little ghost Pokemon. Real voice or not, maybe it did want someone to play with it.

“Okay, I’ll play with you.” She took hold of the hand, and cracked a smile; the Phantump seemed almost caught by surprise, before holding her hand in both of its own and waving it about. She laughed, twirling it around, watching it wiggle its shadowy tail joyfully. “See? We can play if you want. I’m a friend.”

At the mention of the word ‘friend’, the Phantump perked up, as if it had suddenly remembered something; it yanked on Juliet’s hand and began zooming down the corridor, out of the hall of mirrors, and she had to hold on for dear life lest she got lost too. “Wait, wait! Slow down, Phantump!”

But there was no slowing down; the little ghostly tree careened around the curves and dipped under another makeshift curtain, dragging its new friend with it.

Right as a flock of Woobats swooped onto them. Real ones this time. Juliet screamed, the mini panic causing her to drop Phantump’s hand in the crowd.

“Oh no—where did you go? Come back!” She winced, swatting at the Woobats till she was sure they’d all gone. There was a lot more light in the room she was in; it was furnished to look a bit like an old-fashioned living room, with a fireplace with charred wood, a faded carpet, a sofa set with ancient upholstery, and a broken grandfather clock. She was taking all this in with fascination—when a scratching sound came from behind her.

“Ahhhh! Who’s there?!” She whirled around, holding out her hands, but saw nothing but air. “Phantump? Is that you?”

There it was again! This time, the suspicious noise was something like a scratching followed by a bump. As if someone was trying to signal Morse code but didn’t know how it worked. She waited till she heard it again—then noticed the rather large bookcase in front of her.

Of course. There was usually one trick book that led to a hidden area behind the bookcase—that was how the cliche worked, right? But the cliche _also_ said that anyone who followed the weird noises in horror movies was doomed. But how much worse could it get?

Quivering, she slowly made her way to the bookcase, examining the rows and rows of titles in the shelves. Most of them looked like faded old historical volumes, how many of which were real she did not know. Then she stopped at one that seemed to stick out: a biography of Chairman Rose, made to look as faded and nondescript as the rest.

“That can’t be a hundred years old, surely,” she snorted, carefully pulling out the book; lo and behold, the bookcase began shifting slowly to the left with a rumble, revealing not a passage as she’d expected, but a rather cramped space—then she jumped back and screamed as a figure tumbled to her feet.

“EEEEEEEEEKKKK!!”

“AHHHHHHHHH!! Wait—Juliet?!”

“Huh?” She cut off mid-scream at the _very familiar_ voice suddenly calling her name, then blinked to adjust to the light to find—“Leon?!”

“Oh my Arceus! It is you!” The purple-haired man quickly pulled her into a tight hug, and she could feel his accelerated heartbeat right against her own chest. “Holy Karp, I thought you were the Cofagrigus! That thing jumped out and scared the Litwick away, and I tried going after them but then—”

“You got lost,” she laughed shakily, shaking her head and hugging him just as tight—once she was sure both their hearts were beating normally, she leaned up to give him a kiss. “But I found you.”

“You’ll always find me, J,” Leon smiled, holding his forehead to hers and returning the kiss. “I can never be lost knowing I’ll always come back to you.”

“Oh, Lee…” Juliet caught the smile, the gentle heat spreading across her cheeks—before a sudden chill around them reminded her where they were. “You pick the strangest places to be romantic.”

“Well, we are on a date, aren’t we?”

She snickered. “What are we, seventeen?”

“I sure feel like it after this experience,” he laughed, gently knocking his nose against hers. “But I think we’ve had enough fun today. It’s getting quite late.”

“You’re right, but if we knew a way out—” She paused, feeling a tug on her jacket, and turned around. “Oh! It’s you! And you found some friends!”

It was the Phantump from earlier, this time accompanied by a merry gaggle of several other Phantumps—who circled and swayed around the couple, as if doing a dance. Leon watched the little spectacle in amusement. “I see you’ve been making friends?”

“Sort of. But this little fellow did lead me to you, so he’s a friend as any,” Juliet grinned, bending to face the one Phantump that was peering right at her. “Do you think you can show us the way out?”

The little ghost happily complied, its circle of teammates bunching together so they pulled the couple forward with them; they went back down the way they came, but took a right away from the hall of mirrors, through an empty room where a Mimikyu sprang up and a camera flash went off just as they jumped—and finally, to the back door.

“Ah, welcome back, young travellers,” the collector from earlier greeted them, making Juliet raise an eyebrow. How was she somehow in two places at once? And her voice seemed vaguely familiar... She looked around, but the Phantump had all vanished into the night. “We hope you enjoyed your little stay.”

“Now that… that was freaky,” she shuddered, holding onto Leon’s hand as they walked back. He was examining a piece of paper the collector had given him. “What’ve you got there?”

“The photo from that room with the Mimikyu.” He shook his head, laughing and handing it to her. “Look at my _face_.”

“Forget that, look at _mine!_ ” They were both frozen mid-shriek, holding onto each other like they were on the set of a slapstick horror piece. It was a comical photo… but also strangely adorable. The kind of thing you’d treasure in an album and then pull out years later to entertain your kids.

It wasn’t an unusual notion to Juliet; she could definitely see herself doing that with Leon, especially the older they got. But in the moment, she hardly felt like thinking of the future—in fact, it was quite the opposite. 

It was amazing how Leon made her feel both settled and carefree at the same time. Like he’d always planned to fall in love with her for a very, very long time.

* * *

“Miss Juliet! Mister Leon!”

They ran into Hamish and Thomas again at the exit gate, just as they were getting doughnuts to go—and Juliet’s keen eye noticed the boys were now very much hand in hand, and their body language was a lot less nervous around each other. She smiled warmly. “Ah, I see you boys are leaving too! I hope you had a good time.”

“Yeah, we—we sure did,” Hamish chuckled, a lot more confidently this time, though he stole a shy sideways glance at his date. “I hope you guys had fun too.”

“We sure did,” Leon nodded, grinning. “But I’m never short of a good time around your Teach.”

“Now stop that, honey, you’re embarrassing them,” she chided, gently nudging him in the side and taking his arm. “Well, I’m certainly glad to hear that. I hope it means you’ll come to school tomorrow in good spirits.”

“I would think so,” Thomas smiled sheepishly, gesturing at their now-impatient Yamper. “Well, we’d better go. See you tomorrow, Teach!”

“Ah, young love. So pure and innocent,” Leon snickered once the boys were safely out of earshot and they were on their way back to their flat. “Although… I can’t help thinking it feels a bit familiar.”

“Funny… I was thinking that, too,” Juliet smiled, stopping beside a park bench to look over at the full moon that shone on the surface of the river. “I do hope they’ve found something special. We tend to dismiss that sometimes as we get older, you know? That feeling of looking into someone’s eyes for the first time and seeing everything you’ve ever wanted.” 

She paused and turned to look up at her husband, her smile as bright as the moon above them. “But I realise… I don’t think I could ever let that go no matter how old I get. Because I feel that same feeling every time I look at you, everyday, Lee.”

“Juliet…” Leon’s features crinkled into a smile that mirrored her own, and he took her hands in his, squeezing them. “I’ve felt that feeling ever since we met. And even if I didn’t know it at the time, looking at you now… I know for sure it’s always been there.”

They sealed their words with a kiss that lingered in the moonlight, leaning against the park bench like youngsters stealing a moment away from prying eyes. It was good to know they had the security now to no longer have to do that—but when they loved each other like they did, every time felt like the first, fresh, exciting new time.

Because for Juliet and Leon, they’d be ready to each fall in love with the other again.

And again.

And again...


End file.
